Jesse Boykins III AKA Bartholomew
Jesse Boykins III is a Jamaican dude, who’s from the south, who chilled in Chicago for a little bit, who’s been around the world, and reps Brooklyn with every sinew of his being. The poetic nomad and soulful crooner has an incredibly diverse background that flows and trickles over into his music. You can’t confine his sound to one tidy niche or genre, so there’s really no choice but to give his music a listen with an open mind. We got the chance to hop on the phone with the LA-based artist, and his warm disposition instantly set the tone for an enjoyable and insightful interview; ranging from the origins of his Jamaican upbringing to his recently released project, Bartholomew.
Who is Jesse Boykins III as an artist?
Before anything, first and foremost, I’m a creative. I have a lot of different interests, but my leading source of expression is music. Songwriting, production, and arrangement are pretty much how I got inspired to seek other forms of art. I also have an interest in visual art as far a cinema photography goes and directing. I guess I look at myself as a curator and kind of think of things as facades from all different sides. It’s a gift and a curse.
Why do you consider it a curse?
I don’t like to be controlling. If you have a specific vision and your vision taps not only into the music, but visuals, aesthetics, design, etc, it can be hard sometimes to give up some control over what you already have built out in your mind. I don’t think it’s a bad thing; I’d rather have some sort of vision and introduce that to people, than to bring nothing to the table.
You were born in Chicago, and raised in Jamaica. How did that influence your background in the musical field?
My mother’s side of the family pretty much raised me in Jamaica, and they’re all musically inclined. The cousins I grew up with would take me to singing lessons and one of the things that was mandatory in my family was the arts. I would go to voice lessons and guitar lessons. Everyone had a musical gift and I was the younger cousin that would tag along and just wanted to be part of things. It taught me involvement and it taught me to know my place. I’m not entitled in any sense, and I learned the concept of working hard and earning what I deserve. I’m not really a shortcut guy, and that was instilled in me from childhood.
So then from Jamaica, how did you end up on the West Coast, in LA?
I’ve always had to move around when I was younger, it was my choice. I lived in New York for a while, Bed-Stuy, Crown Heights, Central Park – I even lived in Jersey for a little bit and I just traveled a lot. I just felt like the only place I hadn’t lived was Los Angeles. The time I did spend in LA though, I noticed all my friends were so happy! My friends in LA were so different from my friends in New York. Even though I love New York, a lot of people get caught up with themselves and become overwhelmed with nothingness, and there’s no sense of solitude. It’s really hard to develop with so much doubt, and it’s really cool to fight against that when you’re young, but after a while, I got tired of dealing with it. When I finally kicked the drug of New York – because New York is a drug – and settled into LA, I started a huge transition.
Would you say your time in New York helped prepare you for LA? You know the saying if you make it here you can make it anywhere. Did NY help you get focused?
I mean, not really (laughs). Drive is something that’s always been in me no matter where I’ve been. That’s something that you grow up with. You learn certain traits based on what your upbringing is. I don’t think it’s about geographically where you are. In New York it’s like your mom throwing you out the nest and you gotta fly. Like, get your wingspan out a little wider (laughs).
There is nostalgia about New York, which is one thing that I understand because I lived there so long and came up in Brooklyn. That culture and community in Brooklyn is a whole different thing from the city life. I appreciate that aspect of New York, all the culture that I gained and people that I connected to outside my world.
Taking it back to roots and inspiration I came across your Andre 3000 cover, Prototype. Would you say Andre’s a big influence to your music?
Most definitely, who is he not an influence to? And if anybody from my generation says Andre 3000 is not an influence, they’re lying (laughs). I’ve been trying to meet Andre 3000 for like 3 years now just to have a conversation. There’s not a lot of people in this world that look like me that are actually courageous enough to express themselves regardless of what they think their fan base should receive from them.
That’s my thing, bravery, courage, just like Kanye West is another one of my inspirations. As radical and as awkwardly aggressive as he might seem, he’s still true to himself even though he gets ridiculed for everything that comes out of his mouth. If a lot of people were in his position, they would close up or go crazy. To continue to champion and campaign what he believes in and continue to express himself freely is one of the hardest things to do.
We know you take pride in your songwriting abilities. What’s your process of putting together a song and translating that into conceptualizing an album?
I look at songwriting as a vessel, more so than anything. I realize I have to step outside of myself to speak my truth. Sometimes, I get in my own way, like you want to tell somebody something, but you don’t want them to take it the wrong way, or for them to react negatively to what you have to say. But, what good is that going to do for anybody if nobody is being real with anyone?
I might say something and it might offend you, but you can listen to it again and realize where I’m coming from later. So I look at songwriting like bridging gaps, like I said, “a vessel.” When I write, I try to stay true to what I’m trying to convey in that moment, and still make it sound good!
“The journey is more important than the finish line. Longevity is key.”
Would you say most of your songwriting is personal or are you using stories from other people?
I would say most of my writing is personal. As an artist you have to be personable and be who you are through what you’re creating. That’s a true artist; some artists are more like businesses, and that’s fine. They portray this image of themselves and they have to continue that image through their lifestyle and they lose themselves in that. I don’t ever want to be that type of artist. I’d rather just talk about what I experience and what my point-of-views are. I may be the loser in a battle, but that battle made me hella strong.
You can take those losses and turn them into music.
Exactly! The journey is more important than the finish line. Longevity is key.
Switching just a bit, lets talk about another artistic expression, style. You definitely have it and you have your own unique perspective. What influences that?
It goes back to what I said earlier about bravery and being willing to try new things. I think the most stylish people are those that don’t give a fuck. They’re not self-conscious in any sense. My appreciation for colors, textures, textiles comes from my background in art school and being around people who were so involved in that world.
As far as my style goes, it really stems from resourcefulness and confidence. I always reference old reggae photos and Jamaican singers. They just used everything they had, put it on, and it was fresh. I don’t really care about what’s in right now. Does it fit good, is the cut nice, and is it made with quality? (Laughs) Those three things are my main focus when it comes to menswear. Sometimes I’m minimal, other times it’s six layers or I’ll cut the sleeves. Who knows? I just like experimenting and trying shit.
And that goes with the hair too?
Exactly! Right now I have a few braids, dreads, I’ll put it in a bun sometimes, it’s a lot. I look at the hair thing like a crown, like black gold. How can I make my crown different and add to it to make it extra wavy? Sometimes that means just letting it do whatever it wants to do and not a lot of thought goes into it. But, I do take care of it of course.
The project you just released is called Bartholomew. Who is Bartholomew?
That’s my alter ego. It’s this character I came up with in college when I went to random, really fancy art parties when I was 18 and had no business being there, because some random girl invited me. Everyone’s so fancy, so I came up with Bartholomew.
I did the research and realized that the name Bartholomew is tied to so many different cultures and the name is actually kind of universal in a historical sense. I developed the character throughout the years and I figured it was time for me to be Bartholomew since I was pretending for so long. It’s like my fake superman.
“I’m a Jamaican dude, who’s from the south, who chilled in Chicago for a little bit, who’s been around the world, and reps Brooklyn hard as shit. There’s a lot to me.”
So then what can people expect from the project? Is it soulful or dance-y?
It’s everything. That’s one thing I found out, I was competing with myself as Jesse Boykins III. I felt like people gave me a responsibility and put me in a box to be this soul rescuer. And soul is an aspect of me, but there are so many other levels to me that people don’t see. People who know me, know I’m goofy. But, sometimes I’ll walk into a place and people will start to bow. That’s kind of weird. I appreciate it, and I know I’m in a tunic right now, but there’s no need.
I’m a Jamaican dude, who’s from the south, who chilled in Chicago for a little bit, who’s been around the world, and reps Brooklyn hard as shit. There’s a lot to me, and I’d rather that, then people have a one-side perception of who I am and miss out on the other sides.
What do you want people to take away from your music?
Photography by: James Law (@jameslaw1)
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